Work is not school. Montessori management.

For example, Morten Hansen of the University of California, Berkeley studied 182 teams who were trying to win a contract on behalf of a professional-services firm. He found that the more time they spent consulting others, the less likely they were to win a deal. This shows, he says, that collaboration has costs as well as benefits. These need to be weighed against each other, instead of simply assuming that the more teamwork the better.

Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. X is better. No, Y is. Ah, try Z. You get there. You don’t. Is there any rule or idea as solid as the ground? Maybe only responsiveness — improvising to ever-changing circumstances. As Highway says in Heartbreak Ridge, “You adapt. You overcome. You improvise. Let’s move. Four minutes!”